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Make Travel Insurance an essential part of your holiday

Many people fail to arrange travel insurance for their holiday, in the belief that they won’t fall ill or suffer a flight cancellation. But arranging insurance for your family holiday or business trip should be a priority for everyone, especially when you consider what could go wrong.

Just ask yourself what you would do if you experienced any of the following:

A cancelled flight or connecting flight

Lost luggage

Stolen passport and wallet

A medical emergency at home that you need to fly back for

An accident that requires immediate medical treatment

You need to cancel your trip because of a death in the family or family illness

Your tour operator or airline goes bankrupt

Without adequate travel insurance, there’s probably not a great deal you could do to rectify the situation – other than putting your hand in your pocket and paying any losses yourself.

Get the level of cover right

If you make the right decision and purchase travel insurance, it’s important to ensure you’ve got the right level of cover in place. Price is an important factor for many people, but care should be taken to ensure the policy is comprehensive enough to meet your needs – so make sure you read the policy wording in full before you buy.

Key features to consider when you buy travel insurance include:

Medical and personal liability cover – opt for at least £2million worth of cover for medical expenses and £1 million worth of personal liability cover

Cancellation cover – organising your travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday will protect you in the event that you are not able to travel. Check that the value of the cover matches the full cost of the holiday you’ve booked, or a minimum of £3,000

Baggage cover – it’s advisable to choose at least £1500 baggage cover. Many people underestimate the value of their belongings, especially if they’re carrying electronic gadgets and designer goods; also double check if you need separate cover for sports equipment or jewellery

Personal money and travel documents cover – some policies will cover the costs of your documents and money if it is lost or stolen, as well as offering help to get documents replaced; choose a minimum of £250 cash

Missed or delayed departure cover – basic policies don’t cover for missed or delayed departure, so paying a little more for a better policy could save your holiday in the event of a delay; opt for a minimum of £20 an hour for the first 12 hours

End supplier failure, catastrophe and strike cover – unless you book a package holiday, make sure you have a travel insurance policy with ‘end supplier failure’ to cover you if your airline or hotel goes out of business

It’s also advisable to choose a policy excesses under £100, and be on your guard for cheaper policies which tend to have a higher excess.

Talk to your broker about the right travel insurance for you. Call 01698 263 162.